David Gordon Kirkpatrick AO MBE (1927 - 2003)

Born 13 Jun 1927 in Kempsey, New South Wales, Australia

Ancestors

Husband of Mildred Geraldine Joy (McKean) Kirkpatrick OAM — married 22 Dec 1951 in Parramatta, New South Wales, Australia

Died 19 Sep 2003 at age 76 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

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Biography

Gordon Kirkpatrick AO MBE is Notable.

"Slim Dusty was a one-off
and a great Australian icon."
- Prime Minister John Howard 1996-2007.

Slim Dusty AO MBE was an Australian country music singer-songwriter, guitarist and producer. He was an Australian cultural icon and one of the country's most awarded stars, with a career spanning nearly seven decades and numerous recordings. Slim Dusty was the first Australian to have a number one international hit song, with a version of Gordon Parsons' A Pub with No Beer. He received an unequalled 37 Golden Guitar awards and was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame and Australian Roll of Renown. During his lifetime, he was considered an Australian National Treasure.

Formative years

Gordon was heading towards a life as a dairy farmer at Nulla Nulla Creek, New South Wales

David Gordon Kirkpatrick was born on 13th June 1927 at Homewood, Nulla Nulla Creek near Kempsey, New South Wales, Australia, the youngest child of David Kirkpatrick and Mary Partridge. Although Gordon, as he was known so as to avoid confusion with his similarly-named father, wrote his first song The Way the Cowboy Dies in 1937 and adopted the stage name Slim Dusty the following year, at eleven years of age. Fearing he was heading down the same 'road' as his father and milking the cows twice a day seven days a week, whilst a 'country boy' at heart, Gordon was looking for something else. ^[1]

Gordon and Joy enjoyed 51 years of married adventure

Only after convincing his future mother-in-law that Slim Dusty was his stage name and that he had another, legal, name Gordon married fellow country singer, Joy McKean, on 22nd December 1951 in Parramatta, New South Wales. ^[2]

Music career

Slim Dusty singing his hit song, Duncan, on YouTube

Slim Dusty, Australian Icon.

Slim Dusty is known for his songs that identify with Australian life, particularly of life in the 'bush', the great Aussie Outback. He also recorded many trucking songs, honouring those tireless men and women who travel Australia's highways delivering essential goods to diverse places. His country sub-genre is known as the 'bush ballad'.

He released his first record in 1945 at the age of nineteen and in 1946 signed his first recording contract. In 1954, Slim and Joy launched a full-time business career, including the Slim Dusty Travelling Show. Joy became Slim's manager for the next fifty years. ^[1] As well as regularly performing and touring together, Joy wrote several of Slim Dusty's most popular songs, including:

• Lights on the Hill (1974)
• The Biggest Disappointment (1975)
• The Angel of Goulburn Hill (1977)
• Indian Pacific (1978)
• Walk a Country Mile (1980)

Other extremely popular songs during his career were:

• A Pub with no Beer (1958)
• Boomerang (1961)
• Darwin (Big Heart of the North) (1971)
• Duncan (1980)
• G'day, G'day (1988)

In 1964 the annual Slim Dusty Australia-round tour, a 48,280 kilometres (30,000 mi) journey that went on for ten months, was started. This regular event was the subject of a feature film, The Slim Dusty Movie, in 1984. ^[1]

Slim Dusty is the first artist to have music broadcast from space, when astronauts played his rendition of Waltzing Matilda from Space Shuttle Columbia as it passed over Australia on its maiden flight in 1981. ^[1]

Slim Dusty recorded and released his 100th album, Looking Forward, Looking Back, in 2000 and became the first artist in worldwide commercial recording history to do so; second was Cliff Richard. All 100 albums had been recorded with the same record label, EMI, making him the first music artist in the world to record 100 albums with the same label. His final album was his 119th. ^[1]

Honours and awards

• In the Queen's Birthday Honours 1970, he was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in recognition of service to the entertainment industry. ^[3]
• One of the earliest members, in 1979, of the Australian Country Music Hall of Fame's Australasian Country Music Roll of Renown. ^[4]
• On Australia Day 1998, he was appointed Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) in recognition of service to Australian country music and to the entertainment industry as a composer and performer. ^[5]
• Slim was one of the inaugural Inductees in 1988 into the ARIA Hall of Fame (along with Dame Joan Sutherland, Johnny O'Keefe, Col Joye, Vanda & Young and AC/DC). ^[6]
• On Australia Day 1999, he was named Senior Australian of the Year. ^[7]
• Performed Waltzing Matilda, a very famous song in Australia that many believe ought to be Australia's National Anthem, at the closing ceremony of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games. ^[8]
• Awarded 'ARIA Special Achievement Awards for 'Special Achievement in 1996 ^[9] and for 'Outstanding Achievement' in 2000. ^[10]
• Awarded the Centenary Medal in 2001 for distinguished service to the entertainment industry and the arts. ^[11]
• He was featured in the 2001 Australia Post 'Australian Legends' postage stamp series, on two 45c stamps and a stamped envelope.

Slim Dusty $1 commemmorative coin

• The Royal Australian Mint issued a coin in their Inspirational Australians $1 series celebrating the life of Slim Dusty.
• Winner of an unequalled 45 Golden Guitar awards from 72 nominations at the Tamworth Country Music Festival.
• Winner of numerous music awards, including King of Pop Awards (1977 and 1978), Australian Entertainment Mo Awards (1985 and 2015), Tamworth Songwriters Awards (1993 and 1996) and ARIA Best Country Album (2001).
• During his lifetime, Slim Dusty was considered an National Living Treasure.

Centenary Medal

Final encore

'Slim Dusty' passed away after a protracted battle with lung and kidney cancer on 19th September 2003 at home at St Ives, New South Wales. He was aged just 76 years. ^[12] Thousands gathered at St Andrew's Cathedral, Sydney a week later at a state funeral which featured tributes from Slim Dusty's children as well as words from other national musicians, Peter Garrett and John Williamson, and music from Graeme Connors, Kasey Chambers and Troy Cassar-Daley. His ashes are interred at Northern Suburbs Memorial Park, North Ryde, New South Wales.

Gordon Kirkpatrick is survived by Joy and their two children, both of whom are also accomplished singer-songwriters:

• Anne Kirkpatrick (1952-still living); noted country music singer-songwriter
• Dr David Kirkpatrick (c1955-still living); retired in 2019 from Gosford Private Hospital after some 30 years